NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is betting it can revolutionize wireless Internet service on mobile phones the way that it transformed the search business on PCs.
The search behemoth has already taken on Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in the market for productivity and Web browsing software. Google's Android software is taking aim at Microsoft's Windows Mobile; Symbian, in which Nokia is an investor; and Apple Inc's (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) iPhone, which dominate the smart phone market.
Andy Rubin, Google's director of mobile platforms, told Reuters that Android's success hinges on the reception of the first phone, due out later this month.
"We're in the final stages and having lots of sleepless nights," he said in an interview. "We're very happy with the results," said Rubin, who worked previously at Apple and a number of Silicon Valley start-ups.
T-Mobile USA TMOG.UL is expected to introduce the first Android phone in New York on September 23, sources familiar with the plan told Reuters this week.
After two years of speculation, Google is under pressure to deliver a product sufficiently different from Apple Inc's iPhone and the myriad copycats that have appeared since it was introduced last year.
Rather than launch the new operating system with a range of devices from several handset makers and phone carriers, Rubin said Google chose to "put our blinders on" and make sure the first phones impress consumers.
"If we come out with a dud, people will go, 'Well, that was a waste of time," said Rubin, co-founder and former CEO of Danger Inc, which built the T-Mobile Sidekick, a pioneering Web phone shaped like a bar of soap with an flip-out keyboard.
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The search behemoth has already taken on Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in the market for productivity and Web browsing software. Google's Android software is taking aim at Microsoft's Windows Mobile; Symbian, in which Nokia is an investor; and Apple Inc's (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) iPhone, which dominate the smart phone market.
Andy Rubin, Google's director of mobile platforms, told Reuters that Android's success hinges on the reception of the first phone, due out later this month.
"We're in the final stages and having lots of sleepless nights," he said in an interview. "We're very happy with the results," said Rubin, who worked previously at Apple and a number of Silicon Valley start-ups.
T-Mobile USA TMOG.UL is expected to introduce the first Android phone in New York on September 23, sources familiar with the plan told Reuters this week.
After two years of speculation, Google is under pressure to deliver a product sufficiently different from Apple Inc's iPhone and the myriad copycats that have appeared since it was introduced last year.
Rather than launch the new operating system with a range of devices from several handset makers and phone carriers, Rubin said Google chose to "put our blinders on" and make sure the first phones impress consumers.
"If we come out with a dud, people will go, 'Well, that was a waste of time," said Rubin, co-founder and former CEO of Danger Inc, which built the T-Mobile Sidekick, a pioneering Web phone shaped like a bar of soap with an flip-out keyboard.
more here
